Kaine Seeks Federal Aid For Watermen

RICHMOND — Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will seek federal aid for watermen who could be facing hard times due to new commercial crabbing restrictions.

Kaine sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez requesting a disaster declaration under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act. Congress occasionally appropriates money for fishermen and seafood processors when disaster strikes certain fisheries. A disaster declaration from the commerce secretary can help start that process, but does not guarantee financial assistance.

"The blue crab fishery is in dire straits and our watermen are enduring serious hardship," Kaine said in a statement. "I look forward to working with ... the entire congressional delegation to secure federal aid for our watermen."

The blue crab stock in the Chesapeake Bay has declined about 70 percent from 1990. Scientists have said overfishing is largely to blame along with degraded water quality and the loss of protective habitat.

Federal assistance has typically been given out for natural disaster-caused losses, such as hurricanes, drought and massive algae blooms. A large group of state lawmakers signed a letter to Kaine last month asking him to seek the disaster declaration.

This type of federal relief has never been approved for Chesapeake Bay watermen - not even for the oyster industry, which has seen the oyster stock plummet to a fraction of historic numbers, largely due to unhealthy waters and disease.

Since state regulators began talking in recent months about the harvest restrictions that would be necessary to restore the blue crab population to a healthy size, watermen began pushing back by saying the degraded bay was more of a factor in the stock decline than overfishing.

At Kaine's direction, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission passed measures that attempt to bring about a 34 percent cut in the number of female crabs caught.

VMRC spokesman John M.R. Bull said officials are also still looking at the possibility of state aid.

He said state officials believe Virginia watermen have a good case for a disaster declaration on their fishery.